


Summer by the Samegawa

by goodfairyofny, KrisRix, SofyTrancy_ENG (SofyTrancy), vgfeather, WishStone



Series: KanNao Collaborations [4]
Category: Persona 4
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-03-07 14:47:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18875347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodfairyofny/pseuds/goodfairyofny, https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrisRix/pseuds/KrisRix, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SofyTrancy/pseuds/SofyTrancy_ENG, https://archiveofourown.org/users/vgfeather/pseuds/vgfeather, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishStone/pseuds/WishStone
Summary: It's getting warmer and we all know what that means! Time to catch some bugs! Time for topsickles! Time to sit by the cooling breeze of the Samegawa flood plains and let the day drift by! What are Kanji and Naoto up to these days...?





	1. Chapter 1

Between the muggy rains of June, all the way into the crescendo of cicadas in August; summers in Inaba are a good time no matter what. Early mornings, before the heat hits, watching kids splash in the low waters around the river, having a picnic with friends in the late afternoon, or watching the stars at night - not having a good time is the bigger problem for most residents. 

 

Join our group of KanNao writers as we again explore the lives of our favourite duo in different chapters all around the same setting!

 

As always, if you wish to join in, hit up WishStone! And to all our readers: Have fun, we look forward to sharing our stories with you all.

Tags will evolve as writers add their chapters. :3


	2. Taking a dip

_Maybe carrying a fan in this heat would be the smarter idea_ , Naoto thought to herself as she pressed a cold can of TaP against her open-collared neck. Sitting high in the branches of one of the floodplains’ trees, she leaned her back against the tree trunk and closed her eyes. Mariko be praised, at least there was a hint off wind. It soothingly rustled the leaves, kept the worst of the insects away, and provided some much-needed cooling. She did not even wish to remotely consider what the heat would feel like without the breeze.

She turned her head, pressing the closed can to the other side of her throat as she lazily watched people stroll by beneath her. After finishing her scheduled school work for the day in the morning, before the heat could kick in, the junior detective felt drawn to the city. Her third year had only started a few months ago, and after the oppressive humidity of June, July had come with more heat than she was equipped for in her apartment.

Certainly, buying a small air conditioning unit would not have been an issue, especially not living in a small one-bedroom place like she did.

But she disliked wasting money – and that kind of luxury felt wasteful. Not only that, ecological concerns were also something to consider. It was much more preferable to find a cool location with some shaved ice or a cold drink and wait out the heat of the day. A fan placed into an open window for a few hours at night sufficed.

Maybe it was also a waste to simply laze about like this. But she had made no other plans, and having a slow day now and again could surely be pardoned.

Especially if her eyes caught something worth noticing.

Passing just along the pathway was a rather tall young man with carefully maintained jet-black hair, wearing slightly baggy black shorts with a purple tank top - which helped emphasise a magnificent upper body musculature.

Still holding the cool can to her neck, she half-turned, the other hand seeking purchase on the trunk. _Kanji-kun?_ , she thought. _What is he doing here?_

The way he went, he had taken the shortcut through the back alleys in the shopping district to school, then turned around to head towards the city. She saw no shopping bags, so he had not been on that specific errant; he was on foot, so not out for one of his endurance-building bike rides. He did, however, hold something in the crook of one arm. She slunk one leg around her branch to lean forward a bit, striving to see better. A rolled-up cloth?

As he walked by, she stuck the can down the front of her blouse to free up her hands and lowered herself two branches down. With fewer leaves in the way, she observed the tall boy as he turned to head down the stairs towards the river. If she stayed where she was, that would be the last she could see of him.

Detectives come with strange hobbies, her friend Rise Kujikawa had once observed, and when it came to some of her habits, Naoto had to agree. She could pass wonderful hours simply with ‘people watching’. Hanging out with friends, she would often find her attention drawn to observe the other tables; she would focus on a person walking by and follow them with her gaze till she lost sight of them; and sometimes, rarely, she could get so focused that she had slipped away from the group to resume watching.

Now a chance presented itself. The chance of observing the young man who had seemingly taken an interest in her, if his blushes and preening around her were any indication. And witness him in a setting that would have him do neither of these things, as he surely had not expected her to be here.

Resting her chin forward on the can, Naoto scaled down along the trunk, hopping the last two meters with a hop that caught the impact of landing. She fished the can back out from her blouse to not attract unwanted attention and strolled casually to the stairs.

This area had no cover at all, but if she could make it down the hill behind his back, he would not notice if she clambered up on the tree nearer to the riverside.

Luck was on her side. Kanji stood casually near an old man, his arms crossed and pressing the cloth to his chest as they chatted. Right now, he was nodding along to something the man said, seemingly engrossed in the conversation. As the man pointed towards the river and Kanji turned his gaze in that direction; Naoto took the chance, stuffed the can back into her blouse and darted down the hill, then swung herself up the tree.

Taking a few hard breaths, she pulled the can from her front, catching it just in time as it seemingly tried to slip down her bound chest. She ran the cold metal over her neck with a soothed sigh and shifted around on her current branch until she could see the two males chat again.

Just as she spotted them through the foliage, she saw the old man lean back in laughter before patting the tall tailor on his arm. He waved then started to turn back towards the stairway. The centre of her attention, Kanji, turned, and his steps crunched over the gravel on the ground leading up to the low cement landing stage along the river. Then she lost him between leaves and branches.

With a small _tsk_ she looked up and down the tree to see where she could find a better lookout. The way to go was up, as she spotted a long, thick branch with fewer leaves just a bit higher. The can went back into the tentative holster as she found her way there.

When she settled in and spotted him again, she nearly fumbled her can. He had leaned his upper body far over the end of the small pier and was dunked into the river by head and shoulders. Just as she was about to find her way back down again, she saw his arms rise and his hands came up to the concrete to push himself up.

For a moment, Kanji Tatsumi just showed off the play of his muscles under his tank top as He held himself in what looked almost like half of the motion for a push-up. His head hung down still, water cascading off his hair, and she heard him huff and splutter as water ran over his face more than once.

Then he flipped his hair back with a sharp lifting of his head. The movement had her wrap her legs around the branch tighter, leaning forward, watching the spray of water arch around him, pulling his hair back similarly to how it had looked when she had first met him.

He pushed himself back and sat down to the side facing downstream, letting his legs drop over the side of the landing.

The Samegawa was not a very warm river. It had very deep pools in places, and it flowed at a fast pace. The manifold freshwater fish living in it loved the temperature, but for bathing, generally only the very sides of the river attracted bathers. Though as the blunette looked on, the young man lazily kicked his feet in the cold water with a blissful smile on his face. Clearly, he was enjoying this.

As a matter of fact… so was Naoto.

With shaky hands she opened the TaP, not even noticing that it had been shaken up and fountained as she did so. Lifting the drink with both hands, she drank about half of the can in one rapid go. As she lowered the container again, she watched as the young tailor slowly lifted a hand, ruffling his wet hair.

Water splashed and dripped down his shirt, his face, his arms. If Naoto had not known what happened in the last five minutes, she would have assumed his just returned from working out. His every move appeared to entice her at this point, and she openly stared. She scrutinised every move of his body as he sat up, twisting this way and that, apparently looking around.

What the junior Shirogane was not prepared for, was what happened as Kanji scooted forward. He hopped into the water, having another slow survey of the area. When he was satisfied that he was by himself… the tank top came off.

Standing in the water, he scooped up hands full of the cold water and splashed himself. His face, his shoulders, his chest – all the while making startled but pleased noises.

The TaP slid from her hands and thudded to the ground, unnoticed by either of them.

By the time the young man picked up the cloth – a towel, as she now saw – Naoto found herself leaning forward, bracing both of her legs and one of her hands against her branch. The other hand made a fist, pressed against her chest, trying to contain the thunder therein.

With another quick glance around, Kanji slipped his top back over his head, fluttering it a few times to fan himself air.

The polarising display left the young woman in quite a state. Her mind was a mess at this point; no thought managed to linger more than mere moments. Her pulse refused to subside to a normal tempo. She shivered, and it was certainly not from lack of warmth.

If what Rise had been telling her was true, and if her own observations on this matter had any impact, then he had been trying to catch her attention for a long time now. And without really trying, this time it appeared he had finally managed to do so. He was absolutely polarising to the young woman.

Naoto found herself half-way down the tree by the time she noticed she had set herself into motion. Kanji looked up as he spotted movement and gave her a happy little wave. All the while she prepared the excuse that she would like to dip her feet into the cool water herself. Nothing suspicious, naturally. Nothing nefarious. It was summer. The heat was inescapable. There was only so much one could do to escape the high temperature. Just having a dip, really.

It really was not an excuse, she told herself sternly.

After all, she did feel quite warm after everything that happened this afternoon.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I had not planned to write this. I had the next DF chapter open just now, I swear. I have no idea how this happened. ... *runs away*


	3. Stray Cats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanji has a secret and Naoto is determined to find out what it is.

Since summer began, Naoto had noticed a pattern in Kanji Tatsumi’s routine. It was a change from his regular behavior, which made her incredibly curious. Each morning at 9 am, Kanji exited his home and made a quick stop at the Shiroku store. Five minutes later, he would exit carrying a small bag and eating a topsicle (typically blue; this morning it was yellow). Then he would head down the street into an alley and around the corner. This was where Naoto’s observations had a gap; if she followed him down the alleyway he would know that she was following him and she may never get to the bottom of the mystery. Naoto liked nothing better than a good mystery, and this one had occupied the first two weeks of summer break satisfactorily. 

On the days when she waited long enough (most of them, because she was so intrigued), he would return 30-45 minutes later with a smile on his face before going about his plans for the day. Sometimes he met Senpai by the river, or went to the Junes food court, and some of the time he went back home, undoubtedly working in the shop for his mother. Only that one small part of his day was the same every time and it was driving Naoto crazy not knowing what it was. She had tried sending him a text asking how he was and what he had been doing with his summer. He mentioned the other things, but said nothing about his morning activity. 

She tried stopping by the textile shop to say hello while he was working. “Oh, hey, Naoto!” he called out cheerfully when she entered. “Good afternoon, Kanji-kun. I trust that you are well?” It took Kanji a moment to readjust to her fancy talk. “Uh, yeah! You too?” he asked. “Yes, thank you. Have you been doing anything… interesting over break?” Kanji frowned slightly. She had asked him the same thing in a text a few days back. She was still getting new to being social with their friend group, so he supposed it was fine. Well, of course it was fine! She was Naoto and she was awesome, so he was fine with whatever. And she’d come to see him! “Uhh, not really. Just the usual stuff, like hanging out with the guys and all that.” Kanji thought about it for a minute. Maybe _she_ wanted to tell him something fun she was doing? “Hey, what about you, Naoto? Have you been doing anything, uhh… _interesting _?” He sounded like an idiot and he knew it. Naoto’s eyes widened slowly. Was he onto her? She should have tried to be more subtle about her interrogation. “N-No! Absolutely not,” she said, hoping he hadn’t noticed how rattled she was. “I have to go now, Kanji-kun, have a pleasant day.” And she fled the textile shop as fast as she could, not looking back.__

__After a few more days, Naoto couldn’t take it anymore. After Kanji had wandered by the alley, she very quietly followed him. As she rounded the corner, she heard mewling; cats! He was feeding stray cats. He had just placed two cans of cat food on the ground and was attempting to open another as two of them wound around his ankles, nearly tripping him. “Hang on! I can’t go any faster, geeze!” he exclaimed with a smile on his face. Once the cat food was served, he sat on the ground beside them and pet the one closest to him as it ate. There were a total of six in various colors and patterns, all happily slurping up the food. Naoto forgot that she was spying after awhile, contentedly watching him interact with the animals, a faint smile on her face. Eventually he turned in her direction, and she froze as he saw her. “N-Naoto! How long have you been standing there?!” he asked in surprised. She cleared her throat. “I apologize, Kanji-kun. I saw you slip down the alleyway and was… curious as to why.” Kanji nodded. “You could have just said something, Naoto. Could have helped me feed them!” he said, beaming at the kitties. “O-Oh, no, I… Are they all stray?” she asked. “Yep! But I’ve been keeping them well fed and playing with them. Even named ‘em all!” Naoto raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?” Kanji happily picked up the closet feline and held it up to her. “Yeah! This one is Fluffy,” he said of a chubby, long haired orange cat, “and this one’s Snuggles,” he said joyously of a grey and white striped kitty. “This is Spots,” he added, picking up a white cat with large black spots on its back, “and this one is Morgana!” Naoto’s eyebrows both shot up in surprise. “M-Morgana? Why did you name it that?” Kanji shrugged. “Just felt right.” He pet the black and white tuxedo cat gently. It had the most beautiful blue eyes Naoto had ever seen. Kanji refrained from bothering the two cats that were still eating. “You can pet them if you want,” he said looking eager for her to participate. “Just let ‘em sniff your hand first.” Naoto sat carefully on the ground. “A-Alright.” She held her hand out gently, and the cat known as Spots sniffed it, then rubbed excitedly at her hand. “See!” Kanji exclaimed. “She likes you!”_ _

__A few days later, Naoto was feeling much better about the Kanji situation. She was pretty sure his mother didn’t know he was raising a small army of felines, but he wasn’t really hurting anyone, so she said nothing. In fact, it was actually kind of sweet the way he cared for the animals. She was near the alley in the early afternoon and heard a desperate meow. Always the investigator, Naoto crept quietly down the alley. When she neared the end, the cat he had introduced as Morgana leapt out in front of her. “Meow! Mrow mow, meeeeow!” it said. “M-Morgana, was it? I do not understand cat, “ Naoto said nervously. “Mroooooow!” said Morgana. “I am not Kanji-kun, I don’t have any food for you!” she exclaimed as the cat jumped at her leg, clearly quite hungry. “No worries,” said a voice behind her. “I’ve got this.” She turned to see Kanji behind her in the alley, carrying a bag from Shiroku. He bent down and pet Morgana. “Sorry, little guy, I had to run the shop this morning. Got here as fast as I could.” He picked the cat up, and Naoto followed him around the corner where the other cats waited eagerly. She quietly waited while Kanji opened the cans and fed the starving kitties. “Y-You know,” she said very quietly, “I could… help on days when you have work in the morning.” Kanji looked up at her, excitement on his face. “Really?! Wow, Naoto, that would be awesome! We’d be like, cat parents together!” He scooped up the black and white cat who had already finished eating. “Wouldn’t you like that, Morgana?” he asked in a cute voice. The cat licked his cheek in response before beginning to groom its face. Naoto blushed slightly. “I... suppose I would like that as well.” It was shaping up to be the most interesting summer that Naoto had ever had._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As porch cat mom to Spots, Orange, Halo, Jingles, Patches, etc... I wholeheartedly think Kanji would be a cat parent, too. My husband is a cat lover who doesn't want to adopt a new one "because they pee on things", but when he gets the chance to pet the neighborhood kitties he never says no. I don't think Naoto would be able to say no, either, especially when she sees how much joy Kanji gets from spending time with them. Move over Narukami, there are new crazy cat people in town!


End file.
